Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men are an American R&B vocal group, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formerly a quartet featuring Michael McCary, they are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris andShawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet. McCary left the group in 2003 due to health issues.1 During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide.2 "End of the Road" would set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia and garnered international success. As of 2014, "One Sweet Day" still holds the all-time record with sixteen weeks at the top of the Hot 100. Consequently, Boyz II Men are top ranking members with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history, currently (as of 2014) at the number one, three, and four spots.3 Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number 1 spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after The Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.4 Boyz II Men are among a select group of artists that have held at the number-one spot for at least 50 weeks cumulatively, placing them just fourth on that list behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's fourth most successful musical group of the 1990s.5 Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Twenty, was released in 2011. 1985–1990: Beginnings - The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, were started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts(CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member since he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing their harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and would eventually become the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members the group would rehearse in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck backstage at a concert in their hometown to sing for New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's Can You Stand The Rain for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called Bivins, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group. The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that would find international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman. 1991: Cooleyhighharmonyedit Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmony's drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés. From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris'baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song. The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.6 Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmony's second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single. Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocalsat the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, alongside with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits. In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered inChicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song would prove to help advance their success.7 1992: "End of the Road"edit While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, would become Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the''Billboard'' Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 7, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities. A revamped Cooleyhighharmony would be reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the''Boomerang'' soundtrack. Later the track would land on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1".8 Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men would continue to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years. 1994: IIedit After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released.II sold more than 12 million copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5) Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (2). Several of''II's tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry". "I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Hot 100, after Elvis Presley and The Beatles.4 At the 37th Grammy Awards on March 1, 1995, the group won two Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album for ''II and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. for "I'll Make Love to You".